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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Christmas in July Day 19

It was another blisteringly hot day here in Rhode Island yesterday so there was no way I was turning on the oven. The heat makes me lethargic so I didn't start any projects or even do any knitting. This post is rapidly acquiring a "Bah, Humbug!" tone! I did finish The Holiday - England AND Christmas AND Jude Law, what could be better? I also read another chapter of The Snowglobe (I really, really want to finish the whole thing in one sitting but I'm restraining myself) and another couple of chapters of Angels at Christmas. That was about it for CIJ Day 19 until I checked the mail and found this beautiful CIJ card "Christmas Rose" from my friend Jodie. What a surprise! She makes the most amazing Christmas cards and this one is a beauty. She's matted the cream stamped rectangle on a red piece of paper with a subtle red-on-red stamped design, and placed that on top of a green printed piece. The whole cover is accented with just a few glittery dots here and there. Thank you, Jodie, it's gorgeous and will be the cover page for the Christmas in July album that I'm going to put together (add that to the list of albums to do!). I hope a CIJ card becomes a CIJ tradition - perhaps you can consider it your trial-run for your holidays cards?

On the home front, Sophia's friend A is still here - I am really beginning to believe that they are sisters who just cannot decide which house they want to live in (ours or A's)! She's a lovely girl and they keep each other amused so I am quite happy to have her as our houseguest. They only have ten days left together before Sophia leaves for Oregon so I'm thinking they are going to be pretty inseparable. It's so nice to have a BFF! We ran into a snafu with the building inspector so the door/deck project is delayed until Monday. You are only allowed a certain percentage of coverage on your property (coverage being the square footage taken up by the house, garage, decks, patios, outbuildings, etc.) and the new deck would exceed the allowance because they are considering a small bricked area at the back of the house into the coverage calculation. So, tomorrow's task will be to pull up some of the bricks and throw down some grass seed - ta da! it will then be considered a landscaped area and taken out of the calculation. Red tape, honestly, doesn't it drive you crazy?

I've got to do some housework that I've been sadly neglecting the past few days and then I might attempt another ornament. Baking has been suspended for this CIJ as the end of the week and weekend is forecast in the 90's. I've completely gone off track on the monthly calendar so today might be a decorating day. In that case, I'll leave you with this gold wreath that I found over at The Diplomatic Wife. She purchased the wreath but it doesn't look too difficult to make. Not sure about the textured ribbon that's covering the wreath, though, I'll have to look for something like that.

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About Me

I'm Pamela, wife, mother, and diehard Anglophile. Born American but British at heart as they say! My dream is to live in England, anywhere in England, but my reality is to make a home for my family wherever the Navy sends us! Right now, that's Virginia...our third time to be stationed here.
I love to read, cook, travel and preserve my family's memories by scrapbooking, traditionally and digitally. Welcome to our world!